Pre-Departure Orientation #1

PDO: Pre-Departure Orientation.

I had my first one back when I was still applying for CBYX. That would probably also go on my "Top 10 Happiest Moments" list. Or at least it would cut close. Which is kind of lame, when I actually think about it...but I'm going to pretend it's not. :)

Our orientation was in December of last year, and many people from AFS were there. Students who were about to go abroad, exchange students from other countries in the U.S. now, adult volunteers, previous Americans who studied abroad through AFS...the list goes on.

The PDO was an overnight stay, and it was held at some nature center with a bunch of cabins. Apparently, our school's Outdoor Ed event was supposed to be held there in the 6th grade, but somehow it didn't work out, and we were the only school to have to relocate to Summit Lake. And I also didn't stay overnight, because I had to go to church early the next day. But either way, the orientation was really fun.

When I first got to the meeting place, there was a check in table. I, along with many other students, stood in line to get a name tag and get checked in. After that was over with, we simply found a table to sit at. I was kind of clueless at first, but soon saw my friend at a table. What a pleasant surprise! :) After chatting with the other students for a while, we split up into mini groups. My group had about 10 other students, and 2 AFS volunteers. We played with some sheets of toilet paper (weird, I know)--for each fact we said about ourselves, we needed to tear off one piece from the roll. No idea why it was done that way.

Then we had snacks while chatting with other exchange students. I met so many different people, and the best part was that they were all amazingly nice. There was this girl from Japan, currently going to school at Churchill HS. I also learned that there were a lot of students living in Washington D.C. (they must feel so lucky to be in the capital). I wished our school had exchange students...or at least more than we have now. Maybe I just never got to meet them.

Games:
1. I think it was called something Blows. Don't remember the name. Basically, everyone stands in a circle with the exception of one, who is in the middle. The person in the middle needs to say a fact, like "everyone who is multilingual," and if you fit into that category, you need to switch places with someone else in the circle. This Malaysian girl and I just moved one spot over :D Yeah, we're cheap like that.

2. We also played this game that was very popular in a country I forgot the name of. Doughnuts were hung on strings, and the objective was to eat the entire doughnut without touching the string or the food itself (and if part of the doughnut fell on the floor, you needed to start over). It was funny watching people trying to catch the doughnuts while it bobbed around and swung from one end to the other.

After games, we had a lecture on AFS rules and regulations. It's just that stuff about not getting pregnant overseas / all that stuff you learn in 5th grade. They gave us some mock situations that might happen overseas, and asked how we would react. Most of it was just common sense, and everyone answered correctly.

After that, I left. But I heard there was also a really good talent show. People probably didn't sleep the whole night, as teenagers usually don't. :)

 I'll be off to my second pre-departure orientation on June 2nd, and I'll let you guys know how it goes. Hopefully, it's just as fun as the first one!